Kanye West is opening up about his autism diagnosis, which he said came thanks to a suggestion from his wife, Bianca Censori.
The 47-year-old rapper appeared on “The Download With Justin Laboy,” where he told Laboy that Censori was unconvinced by his initial diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
“My wife took me because she said, ‘Something about your personality doesn’t feel like it’s bipolar, I’ve seen bipolar before,’” he said in the Tuesday, February 4, episode. “And come to find out, it’s really a case of autism that I have.”
West first shared his bipolar diagnosis in 2016 after he was hospitalized for what doctors called a “psychiatric emergency.”
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When he later learned he had autism, West said, he was able to start making sense out of his erratic behavior over the years.
“You’re like, ‘Oh, man, I’m gonna wear this [Donald] Trump hat ’cause I just like Trump in general,” he said. “And when people tell you to not do it … and that’s my problem, when fans tell me to do my album a certain way, I’ll do it the opposite way.”
“It’s so difficult for them because this is like a grown man, you can’t tell him,” he continued. “You can’t take control of his bank account. You can’t control what I’m saying on Twitter.”
The controversies around West soon piled up, reaching a boiling point in 2022 when his antisemitic comments led to him losing sponsorships and partnerships, including his Yeezy collaboration with Adidas. As a result, he lost hundreds of millions of dollars, with his net worth falling to $400 million by that October, according to Forbes.
“The constant feeling of not being in control, spun me out of control,” he added.
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Now that he no longer believes he has bipolar disorder, West said he is not taking his prescribed medication for the condition, which he felt stifled his creativity.
“I haven’t taken the medication since I found out it wasn’t bipolar, that it wasn’t the right diagnosis,” West said. “It’s finding stuff that doesn’t block the creativity, obviously that’s what I bring to the world. It’s worth the ramp-up, as long as y’all get the creativity.”
The “Power” rapper is preparing his next album, Bully, due for release this summer. He’s also working with his 11-year-old daughter, North, on her debut album, Elementary School Dropout, according to since-deleted images posted to his Instagram account in January.
West shares North, along with daughter Chicago, 7, and sons Saint, 9, and Psalm, 5, with ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
